Finished: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Hardy). Well, that was depressing. :-( That's my third Thomas Hardy book and the saddest to date. Tess Durbeyfield is a beautiful, virtuous, sixteen year old English village girl whose family barely makes ends meet. Her father drinks more than he supports Tess's mother and house full of children. When a passing clergyman tells the father that his name actually derives from an old entitled family full of knights and land and wealth, the D'Urbervilles, he becomes besotted with the idea that they will soon find some rich relatives and become rich and respectful. Tess's mother is also convinced and insists that Tess go to pay a visit to a neighboring town where she knows there are some D'Urbervilles. Tess doesn't like this idea until she feels responsible for the death of their only horse while making a delivery for her father. She feels terrible guilt, wonders what her family will do without the horse, so decides to go and meet the D'Urbervilles. In reality, the D'Urbervilles are truly an extinct family. The D'Urbervilles in the neighboring town are really a rich family called the Stokes. The father made his fortune off of being a collector of interest for those less fortunate, and so when he retired to the new town to build his mansion, he decided to look up an old, entitled, yet expired, family name and attach it to his last name. Hence, the rich relatives (who aren't really relatives) are the Stokes-D'Urbervilles.

As Tess makes her way there, the Stokes-D'Urberville patriarch has now passed away and only the blind mother and her roguish 24-year old son are left. The minute that Tess approaches the manor and comes upon the son, Alec D'Urberville, her life changes forever and not in a good way. Alec is handsome, charming, forward, sarcastic, etc. He has a laugh in his eye as Tess explains that she thinks they are related. He immediately begins calling her "Coz" and tells her he'll talk to his mother and he's sure he can find a position for her there. He knows very well that they aren't related since they are really Stokes. Tess is uncomfortable with his forwardness, especially when he insists on kissing her cheek. She goes home determined not to accept any position that may be offered there. However, by the time she gets back home a letter has already beat her home offering her a position living in a little cottage taking care of the estate fowls, which Alec's mother is very fond of. Tess's father is a bit insulted at the offer of employment as opposed to the embracing of Tess as a family member, but then he figures that will come in time. Tess's mother can only see wedding bells in Tess's future with the roguish young D'Urberville. Both parents pressure Tess to go, so she does.

Alec continues to be forward with Tess until one night he seduces her. The passage is very vague, and sounds more like rape to me, since it references Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece, "The adder hisses where the sweet bird sings; What virtue breeds iniquity devours." Four months later, Tess has insisted on returning home and is very cold to Alec. It is implied that their "relations" continued more than just the one time, though. Tess arrives home ashamed and knowing that her life and possibility of having a husband in the future are practically non-existent since she's been "ruined". Her mother can't believe that she had premarital relations with the young D'Urberville and has spoiled her changes and her name. Tess cries to her mother, why didn't you ever tell me about these things and what was right from wrong? How was I to know? She's only sixteen, after all. She also discovers that she's pregnant! Flash forward several months and Tess is working the fields trying to help support her family. She's got a very sickly baby boy, who takes a turn for the worse one night and dies. Tess spends a couple of years just going through the motions and helping her family. Finally, at the age of 20 she decides she does have a life ahead of her and sets off from home. She decides to go to another neighboring town and work as a dairy maid. She lives on the dairy farm and thrives in the environment, milking cows and working alongside the other dairy maids. Also working alongside the dairy maids is the handsome, 24 year old, outgoing son of a clergyman, Angel Clare, who has decided not to follow in the clergy footsteps of his father and two brothers. He wants to learn to be some type of farmer so he has arranged to have internships at various farms. He is now on his dairy farm internship. Of course, Angel falls in love with Tess and Tess with Angel.

When Angel proposes to Tess and asks her to come and be his wife on his future farm, Tess, knowing her "impure" history declines over and over. Can't they just be in love and not be married? Angel is so in love with Tess that he is very persistent. Tess tells him she needs to tell him about her history first, and he can't imagine anything that could be so terrible in his virtuous Tess. She's so in love with Angel, that she finally convinces herself that her past doesn't matter. They get married and Angel can't wait to introduce her to his family, who he knows will come to accept that he married "lower" because, after all, she does have the D'Urberville name in her lineage. Tess, still feeling very guilty, even tells him the morning of their wedding day that she really needs to tell him about her history before they marry. Angel puts her off and tells her they will discuss their history later after they're married. So...after the ceremony, Tess and Angel head to a little cottage mill for a few days. That very evening, before they have consummated their marriage, Angel first confesses to Tess that a few years back he had a 48 hour relationship with a woman, and never did it again. Can she possibly forgive that Tess will not be his first lover? Tess forgives him instantly and is actually excited...she has the same news. She tells Angel the whole story about what happened with Alec, the baby and everything. Angel becomes instantly withdrawn. I guess it was different for a woman to be impure as opposed to a man? Anyway, seeing his reaction, she begs him to forgive her. She says she doesn't blame him for not wanting her. Can't he see that she wanted to tell him before the marriage, she tried to tell him? She tells him if he cannot accept her that he can divorce her immediately. He says that would bring scandal on his family name. He doesn't know how he feels, but he knows that he can't stay with her at the moment. :-( Tess offers to go home to her family while he decides and he takes her up on that. He asks her not to contact him but to let him contact her. He sends her with some money so she won't be destitute. Tess, of course, is heartbroken.

Tess heads home with another failure on her hands. Angel heads to Brazil because he hears that there is farmland there. Fast forward another eight months and Tess has not heard from Angel. She is on the last legs of the money he gave her because she used most of it to help out her parents. She is nearly destitute and has gone to work on another farm as a hand to make ends meet. Angel has fallen sick with fever in Brazil almost as soon as he arrived. The supposed idyllic situation for farming in Brazil for the wooed foreigners is not as idyllic as was advertised. Over a year after their marriage, Tess has still not heard from Angel. One day, in the town near the farm she works, Tess runs into....duh, duh, duhhhhh....Alec D'Urberville. He is instantly smitten. He has grown and changed, he says, especially with the death of his mother. He also got religion. His religion doesn't last long, though, because he is instantly re-smitten with Tess and pursues her relentlessly. He apologizes for his former behavior and can't stand to see Tess working her fingers to the bone. He asks her to come and be his wife. He can make things right with their past relationship if she'll just marry him. He can take care of her and her family with all the money he has. Tess just wants him to go away! She tells him she is already married. He asks, then where is your husband who would let you work and live in these conditions?? Tess finally decides to write to Angel and she begs him to come home. She declares how much she loves him and says that if he doesn't come home there are other life choices she might have to make. But mostly, she adores him would die for him and please, please, please come home to her. Meanwhile in Brazil, Angel has recovered, but is weak. He has had lots of time to think and no question, he still loves Tess. Even a fellow Englishman who has come over to make his own fortune tells Angel that what Tess did in the past shouldn't be as important as her character and what she can become in the future. Angel has pretty much decided to forgive Tess and go home when he gets her letter. Of course, the letter took weeks and weeks to get to him in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Tess's worthless father finally passes away which forces her mother, brothers and sisters to leave their rental house and move somewhere. With nowhere to go, Alec D'Urberville again offers to Tess that she and her family can come and live in the cottage on his estate since he can't marry her. He'll even send her brothers and sisters to school. Still, Tess doesn't want to be beholding to him. Tess, her mother and family try moving to another little town, but the rooms they think they have rented are not available. Fast forward a few more months and Angel has finally come home. He got Tess's letter and sets off to find her. He is completely changed in appearance after his battle with illness and doesn't have the same vibrant spring in his step. He knows, though, that he loves Tess and just wants to find her and be with her. (Too little, too late if you ask me!) Angel finally tracks down Tess...but she's going by the name of Mrs. D'Urberville. She is living with  Alec in a lovely townhouse. When she comes down the stairs and sees Angel, she bursts out with emotion telling him he's too late, he's too late. Can't he see? She's back with the first person who despoiled her. She turns him out. Tess runs upstairs and cries in despair. However, Alec comes out of the bedroom and mocks her and mocks Angel. Soon, as Angel walks despairingly down the road back to home, he sees Tess come running after him. She catches up to him and tells him she's free to go with him....she's murdered Alec! Eek! Sure enough, with his taunting and after all the emotional trauma he caused to ruin her life, she has stabbed Alec in the heart and he is dead. Angel grabs Tess's hand and runs with her into the forest. They are able to travel for several days on small roads and take shelter in abandoned shacks. They renew their love and forgive each other everything. Finally, though, the law catches up with them and Tess is taken into custody. She begs Angel to go on with his life if anything happens to her. She asks him to marry her younger sister, who is virtuous and good and a near carbon copy of Tess. He promises to look after them. The last scene shows Angel and Tess's sister walking hand in hand away from the prison where a black flag has just been raised. The black flag signifies that someone has been put to death. Tess has gone to her maker. :-( Angel and Tess's sister walk off hand in hand.

Isn't that tragic and sad?? Tess was such a good, lively young lady and conscientious daughter when the story started out. Through no fault of her own, her life was ruined! The writing in the book is good, though, I was just so hoping for a happy ending! I never dreamed that Angel would really leave her and not come back for so long. They were truly in love. Oh well....sigh.